


New Eyes, Watching Me

by ActualHurry



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Drifter's fear boner, Flirting, M/M, Oral Sex, Power Dynamics, Selfcest, Threesome - M/M/M, Time Travel, post-reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-10-31 22:32:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17858225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ActualHurry/pseuds/ActualHurry
Summary: An anomaly on Venus drops Shin Malphur from the past at Drifter and Shin's feet.Things get... weird.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, here we go. Sorry for using your lyrics for this Hozier, but I ran out of gambling slang.

Since the Red War, Venus had been an all-out mess. Without Guardians around to keep the Vex in check, they’d spread like a plague even further into the planet, taking whatever they could and stopping at nothing. While most people considered it a total loss with irreparable damage to a world that’d once been a relic of humanity's distant, golden past, Drifter thought of it as one hell of a playground. Much better now, with danger around every corner and plenty to scavenge. Nothin' ventured, nothin' gained and all that.

He had plenty of reasons to poke through Venus besides the promise of a good time, anyway – recently, Ishtar Academy’d been showing some nasty fluctuations in chronal consistency, and that was as good an excuse as any to get out. The possible pending threat of a new calamity was just about the only thing that got Shin to hop to it these days.

“Perimeter's clear,” Shin called to Drifter, jumping down from the second floor of the Academy and into the courtyard.

Drifter shrugged at his Ghost before flicking at the air, _go on, get_. “Readings are still off the charts, dunno what to tell you. Check again?”

“A third time?” Shin's helmet reflected the spotlights, still working and scattered through the stone remains. “Bit much, ain't it?”

“Don't complain to me when a Minotaur gets the jump on you 'cause you were lazy. There’s gotta be somethin’...”

Drifter was in the middle of swiping the scans back to his archives when the spike on the graph rocketed upwards, high enough that the scale had to auto-adjust to the new data. His eyes widened, hand pausing mid-air through the gesture.

"Drifter," Shin warned, just as the world got a bit darker around them.

A Vex cloud, singing with static and low roars from a long-away time, surrounded them. The density of it soon blotted out the scarce light streaming into the decrepit ruin, the noise growing louder the longer Drifter stood within it. The change in air pressure left his hair standing on end. Somethin’ big was coming. He was ready for it, Malfeasance raised and waiting against the growing darkness and little pinprick shocks scattering themselves over his skin.

Shin’s hand shot towards Drifter in the dark, grabbed him and yanked him out of the cloud.

“Hey!” snapped Drifter, stumbling forward. He whipped Malfeasance towards Shin, fueled half by reflex and half by indignation.

“It’s not Vex,” Shin said, looking past him.

Something struck Drifter about his voice, the uncertain note in it. Drifter only frowned. “Looks like Vex, sounds like Vex…no surprise, might be fuckin’ Vex.”

The Vex storm darkened, slowly building to its crescendo. Shin reached fingers out to the edge of it, but let his hand fall away at the last second. “It’s…” he started, then trailed off into silence.

Drifter’s attention fell to the tight hold Shin had on his cannon’s grip. The beginning of what was almost fear crept into the back of his mind.

The cloud opened up in a burst of light, a tear straight through time that left sparkling remnants of teichopsia in Drifter’s eyes when he blinked. The usual Vex apparitions that turned to real, tangible things never appeared. Instead, as his vision faded back to normal, he was left staring at not something that had been left behind by the rip in time, but _someone_.

“Alright,” Drifter said slowly, “probably not Vex.”  Next to him, Shin had gone very still.

The man – a Hunter, by the look of that cloak, tattered and short as it was – stayed on his knees and kept his fists braced against the ground while he caught his breath. Considering the Vex’s tendencies for strange and unusual torture methods that Drifter feared and admired in occasionally equal amounts, there was no telling what this guy had seen. Maybe the end of the world. Maybe the worst of the past. Regardless of _whatever_ time-related trauma he had, he looked to be in a bad way.

Sucked for him. Drifter wasn’t feeling particularly altruistic. Drifter raised his voice, said louder, “Listen, you look like you’re in the middle of somethin’, so we’ll just be goin’ now…”

The newcomer managed to sit up enough that Drifter got one clean look at his holster.

Drifter froze.

“Wh – that’s The Last Word,” he breathed, shaking off the shock enough to glower at Shin. “You givin’ that thing out to just anyone now?”

His first clue that he’d made a mistake was how Shin lifted his chin, the tiniest bit, acknowledging a movement that Drifter was only able to notice out of his peripheral. He bit down on his tongue, nerves runnin’ wild.

When Drifter dared to look again, his eyes met The Last Word, pointed dead center at him.

“I didn’t have to give it,” Shin finally murmured, “‘cause it’s mine.”

And past that gun, when Drifter finally found himself able to focus on anything else other than the business end of The Last Word, there was no doubt about it; those were Shin’s dark eyes staring him down, Shin’s tight jaw, Shin’s finger about to pull the trigger on him. The Shin beside him hadn’t moved an inch, yet there he was, standin’ in front of Drifter and a finger’s pressure away from lighting him up.

“You two must be mistaken,” he was sayin’, those wrathful eyes cuttin’ right over to the original Shin, “I got it on good authority this gun’s all mine.”

For once, Drifter was smart enough to keep his damn mouth shut.

“Alright,” said Shin, matching his cool, careful tone. “How long you had it?”

“Long enough.”

“You killed Yor yet?” asked Shin.

At that, the younger Malphur seemed to have trouble deciding which one of them deserved the bullet more. He turned the gun on Shin. Drifter almost laughed at the irony of it, but whatever hysteria he was feeling apparently wasn’t quite enough to sign his death warrant.

“Dredgen Yor’s been dead a week’s time now,” Malphur said, but his composure wavered a second time, hand shaking the tiniest amount. Drifter tried to back away a step, only to get the gun aimed his way again. “ _You_. You ain’t goin’ anywhere, I see that weapon you got.”

Malfeasance felt clumsy and heavy all of a sudden. Drifter full well knew what would and wouldn’t be enough to save him from this reckoning. He’d run through this nightmare a hundred thousand times.

Malphur jerked The Last Word towards Malfeasance, making Drifter jump. “You tryin’ to be like him? I’ll put you down, too.”

Drifter opened his mouth, more than prepared to start lying out of his ass if it’d save his skin, but Shin beat him to it.

“No rest for the wicked, huh,” he said.

Malphur’s brows furrowed down tight, but he didn’t lower The Last Word. If anything, he aimed it a little more pointedly at Shin. Daring: _go on, then._

“You only just killed Yor,” Shin continued. “You’re bound for another hunt already?”

He almost sounded unbothered, as if being threatened by himself was simply another day in the life. Drifter wanted to throttle him for it, but moving even an inch felt like it’d lead to nothin’ good. Nothin’ good at all.

Malphur curled his lip. “That gun’s a curse, look at it –”

“I know it is.”

“Then you’re both the same,” Malphur said, finality in his voice. He aimed The Last Word at Drifter again, Solar Light catching like a flash fire all along his arm.

Drifter knew he didn’t have a chance.

The pull of the trigger was louder than thunder and snappier than lightning, hotter than hell and just as ghastly. Drifter shouted, flinched back in the wake of it. He had just enough time to think, _that’s the sun for you._

And somehow, _somehow_ , when the ringing echo of the shot faded, he still had a body enough to breathe and eyes enough to see.

In front of him, Shin was holding tightly onto Malphur’s wrist to keep The Last Word pointed at the ground. There was a blackened, wide hole there, smoldering deep in the stone. Drifter stared at it longer than he would’ve liked, rubbing his chest sympathetically.

“You got a ways to go, kid,” Shin was saying between gritted teeth.

Drifter looked up just as Malphur tried to reverse the hold Shin had on him, but Shin kicked his feet out from under him and he landed hard, facedown on the ground. Shin slammed a knee down on top of his back, pulled his arm behind him and twisted until Malphur starting shouting at him for it.

“Yor would’ve killed you if he’d wanted to, you hear me?” Shin told him, voice carrying clear over the swears and pain-filled gasps. “He didn’t even raise the damn gun. Call me a liar.”

Drifter’s heart hadn’t yet returned to normal, his eyes stuck staring at the smoke rising from The Last Word. Malphur’s knuckles were bone-white hanging onto the gun, his fingers snapped shut around the grip of it like not even death itself could take it away from him. Malphur’s strangled breaths sounded wet, lurching, and it was with terrible dread that Drifter noticed the tears starting to drip from his eyes.

“Yor’s dead, it doesn’t matter,” Malphur growled, and while the threat was there in his voice, Drifter couldn’t get over the sight of him… crying. The hand holding that gun flashed hot again, but Shin kept him down like it didn’t matter. And it probably didn’t – same Light frequency wouldn’t burn him.

“What the fuck is happening,” Drifter muttered, dragging his hand down his face. He stumbled back, then dropped down to sit on the cold stone ground, his legs long past done. He put Malfeasance down next to him, braced his elbows on his knees and tried to catch the breath still owed to him.

All the while, Malphur stared straight at him, his cheek pressed roughly against the ground and the tears streaming freely from his enraged eyes. His jaw stayed clenched, teeth bared in a scowl. The flush of exertion dappling his cheeks made the back of Drifter’s neck prickle.

Shin Malphur was a pretty crier. He’d be nauseated if he thought too hard about it. So he didn’t. Just kept his watch from a distance, as interested now as he was cautious. Rightfully fuckin’ so, too.

Above Malphur, Shin transmatted his helmet off. His hood fell free around his shoulders. Looking at the both of them, back and forth and again, Drifter could see the similarities there as clear as day. But he could also see the smallest differences – Malphur’s skin was smoother, younger, yet the shadowy circles under his eyes were more pronounced, heavy beneath his already dark eyes, and his fringe was all different lengths, like he hadn’t decided yet just how short he wanted to keep it. Drifter was used to seeing Shin unkempt, but this was a whole new level.

He felt Shin glance his way, catching him in the act. Drifter gave an unapologetic shrug.

“I’m not takin’ the gun,” Shin said, dismissive then. He leaned down to get his mouth by Malphur’s ear. “But you try and shoot him again, we’re gonna have to have a conversation. You understand?”

Malphur said nothing, but he seemed to relax incrementally with the reassurance that Shin wasn’t interested in stealing away The Last Word. Still – Drifter saw how Shin leaned up and slid his hand over Malphur’s wrist and onto the gun. He watched the firm line of his mouth tilt softer, the reverence there.

Feeling intrusive and almost a little bad for it ( _almost_ ), he eyed Malphur again while Shin leaned back down and lowered his voice to whisper something else, this time meant only for him.

Malphur’s wet eyes went wide and he leaned into Shin, grit covering his cheek. He listened, stock-still, and then whatever Shin said next knocked all the fight right out of him. His face crumpled, his once-set shoulders trembling as he went limp and turned his head the other way.

Shin was quiet for a moment before he pushed himself off of Malphur. Drifter watched The Last Word cautiously, like it was a snake about to strike, but when nobody took another shot at him he forced himself to go lax – or look like it, anyway.

“We should go,” Shin said.

“‘We’ bein’...”

“Yeah.” Shin leaned over and lightly dusted off Malphur’s dingy cloak; Malphur did nothing to acknowledge the kindness, his grip staying tight around The Last Word. “We.”

 

* * *

 

 

Drifter flat out refused to allow Malphur on the Derelict. It was against one of his precious rules for survival – if somebody tried to incinerate him at any time, don’t let ‘em on his ship. Easy. _This_ Shin, the right Shin from the proper time, hadn’t ever pointed a Golden Gun at him, so he could let him slide. But this asshole, younger version of him? Man was a spitfire, and while Drifter usually thrived off of that sorta chaotic, wild energy, somethin’ about Malphur set his nerves off real bad. _Real_ bad.

Before now, he’d never been on Shin’s ship. It didn’t take too long for Shin’s Ghost to hook into the remote connection and wire the ship on over this way, but Drifter kept his distance from both of them while the two Shin Malphurs waited, side by side. As if one wasn’t enough.

“Go on,” Shin told Drifter when his ship arrived.

Drifter would be lying if he said he wasn’t awfully curious what the man’s living space looked like, since he’d been crashing in his alley or the Derelict for a while now. So he headed up, fingers ready to grab for Malfeasance at any hint of a trap. Nothing threatened him upon his transmat arrival, and everything even seemed… straightforward.

In fact, the place was nearly _benign_. Not exactly welcoming, but not the minimal, severe aesthetic Drifter was expecting. A peek into the driver’s seat revealed plenty leather accessories, which came as no surprise. But the small kitchen area gave way to a tiny table that could’ve been described as nearly homely with its mat over the top of it, the red and yellow geometric pattern stitched on the mat almost familiar.

Before he got the chance to explore further, Shin appeared with Malphur in tow. Drifter kept a healthy few feet between them, peeking into Shin’s fridge as an excuse.

“Someone needs to make a grocery run,” Drifter commented, checking the milk.

“Wasn’t expecting visitors,” Shin replied. Then, to Malphur, “Bedroom’s that way, if you want some time.”

Malphur muttered his thanks and disappeared past Drifter into one of the closed rooms. Drifter didn’t so much as look, not ‘til he heard the door slide shut after him. Then he turned his attention to Shin, closing the fridge and waiting expectantly.

Shin pressed his lips together tightly. “You’ve got no problem with me bein’ on the Derelict, but another me’s a no-go?” he asked.

Drifter, not in the mood for being scolded, clicked his tongue. “Yeah, but he almost took me out. Near-final-death experience doesn’t exactly make a man wanna open up his home.”

“We’re one and the same.”

“Nuh-uh, none of that shit,” Drifter huffed. “Way I see it, one of you tried to shoot me and the other kept me from gettin’ shot. That ain’t the same at all. Don’t say it is.”

Shin stared at him with an unfathomable expression. Then he glanced down. “He’s… grieving.”

“For what?” Drifter sneered. “Yor?”

“For his purpose.” Shin shook his head, shoving past him to follow Malphur towards his room. “If it’s all the same to you, think I’ll let him take the shot next time.”

Bristling with his outrage, Drifter grabbed Shin’s wrist to pull him back with a hard yank. Shin planted his feet, barely giving him a cursory glance. And if that didn’t just light him _right up_.

“What’d you tell him earlier?” Drifter demanded.

“Does it really matter?”

Drifter wet his lips. “Maybe it does. Maybe I’ve been wonderin’ what made him stop tryin’ to kill the both of us, huh.”

Shin looked at him, really _looked_ , but pulled his arm free at the last moment. Over his shoulder, he said, “Keep wondering.”

The sound of that door sliding shut again was going to keep him up at night. Drifter kicked the fridge with his heel and stormed away to tear the rest of Shin’s ship apart if he wasn’t going to be around to tell him to knock it off.

Drifter didn’t get what could be so enjoyable about hanging out with himself. If it was _him_ who’d showed up, bright eyed and bushy tailed, he would’ve just put a bullet in his own head and called it a day. Hell, he would’ve shot Shin’s prettier self if Shin wouldn’t have gotten pissy for the next few months over it.

 _No_ , he thought, glaring down at the scans his Ghost had provided to him. He wouldn’t’ve shot him. Couldn’t’ve. Not with that Golden Gun going off, there was no way he would’ve been quicker. This was the whole damn reason he’d gotten his crew together, but of course the situation meant none of ‘em were any use. All that prep for nothin’.

“Stupid,” Drifter mumbled to himself, changing the output for the readings they’d collected down there on Venus. He still couldn’t puzzle it out, but at least he could check the history for what ‘Shin Malphur dropping out of time’s ass, fully ready to shoot him’ looked like, so he could avoid it like the plague if it ever happened a second time.

He hoped it never happened a second time.

Eventually, Drifter grew tired of playing with scans, messing with frequencies, and repurposing wires from the inside of Shin’s pilot console. He wandered around, but the ship was only so large, and Drifter could only pace so many times before he started getting ready to claw at the walls. He finally picked his way over to Shin’s bedroom, the door sliding open the second he got too close. There went any remaining indecision.

Curiosity got the better of him. Drifter poked his head in, leaning against the doorway to peer around the room. He knew better than to think it’d be anything other than the same as the rest of the ship, but some part of him was still surprised.

There were little trinkets here and there, memories leftover from patrols and missions across the system, no doubt. A couple posters – ads for plays, maybe – were framed, artwork of Ghosts dressed up in attire mimicking people. Next to the posters, some blueprint of a flashy Sparrow was signed. Drifter could just make out the name _Ren_. A blanket was folded at the bottom of the bed, the same warm geometry pattern on the blanket that decorated the mat in the kitchen. Guns, husks of them mostly, were set up on a modest shelf. Hand cannons for the most part, different models. A Crucible helmet on a bookshelf. A lot of old journals Drifter was suddenly dying to get his hands on. Some Tex Mechanica merch lined the little space remaining.

A Gambit coin was on the very corner of Shin’s nightstand, gleaming green. Drifter felt distinctly out of place suddenly.

Uncomfortable with the surroundings, he focused on the two Shins instead, both of them sitting on the edge of the bed, looking up at him. His little overview of the room hadn’t taken more than a couple seconds, but something about the way Malphur was watching him, so sharp and alert, made Drifter grind his teeth together.

He’d cleaned himself up, at least. Malphur wasn’t a snotty, traumatized mess anymore. He only had a bit of a welt leftover from where he’d been thrown to the ground earlier. If Drifter wasn’t so familiar with Shin by now, they would’ve been the spitting image of each other. And wasn’t that a thought, that he was _familiar_ with his Shin enough to know the right length of stubble on his jaw.

But Malphur wasn’t bad to look at either, and that simple truth alone was driving Drifter absolutely fucking _bonkers_. He was pretty in a way Drifter had never thought Shin was before. How was he supposed to feel about that? Shin, pretty.

Irritated with himself, Drifter jerked his chin at Malphur. “How much time’s he got on you, then?”

Malphur didn’t say anything, but he did keep staring at him, his gaze searching.

“That much, huh,” Drifter went on, aiming for _pushy_ but really hitting on _mean_.

“Leave him be,” Shin cautioned.

“Why, so you can keep coddlin’ yourself?”

Shin pinned him with a look then, leaning back with disbelief written all over his face. “Are you jealous?”

Hackles up and in too deep to back off now, Drifter doubled down. “Never thought you’d be this into yourself, that’s aaallll I’m sayin’.”

Seeing Shin speechless and equally as mortified as he was almost made it all worth it.

As if Drifter really needed a final nail in the coffin, Malphur stood up and started to close the space between them. Drifter caught himself before he stepped back, but the heat burning behind those unfamiliar eyes just about set him on fire.

“Been told a lot about you,” Malphur said.

Drifter pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth, ignoring the pressure of Shin watching him, no doubt judgmentally. “All good things, I hope,” Drifter said, all smiles despite the roiling nerves in his gut.

And then Malphur, brazen as could be, kept on walking. Every step that brought him closer made Drifter’s ribs tighten like a vice. He ended up chest-to-chest with him, hardly a breath away, before he stopped. Drifter didn’t dare a damn thing.

“Don’t know if I’d call ‘em _good_ things,” Malphur told him. He had the fucking nerve to give him a long, slow onceover that left Drifter’s skin prickling hot and nervous.

Drifter could play this game. _This_ , he could do. He glanced between Malphur’s eyes and his lips, down and up again. He wasn’t a stranger to what that mouth could do, but he wasn’t showing his hand just yet.

“Oh yeah?” Drifter asked him, challenging. “What would you call ‘em then, huh?”

Malphur snorted. “The honest truth.”

He pushed past Drifter, out the doorway and into the bathroom. The door shut behind him and Drifter took a breath he hadn’t known he’d been lacking, riled up and restless from nothing more than a little chat. Fuck. He needed to get off this ship.

He’d nearly forgotten he wasn’t alone when Shin shifted slightly from his place on the bed, still watchful, but there was a strange expression on his face. Drifter stared at him, feeling like maybe he was wearing the same look. “What?” he asked, then cleared his throat.

“…Where he’s from was a… difficult time for me,” Shin said after a long pause, picky with his words.

“You’re tellin’ me, he’s a trigger happy sonuva gun,” Drifter said, still a bit sulky about it.

Shin didn’t add anything, instead examining Drifter for a moment. It made him feel like a specimen in a Warlock study; finally, Drifter snapped, “What, what’re you lookin’ at me like that for?”

“I’m not sure you could handle me back then,” Shin finally confessed.

Drifter blinked, flushed, and scowled all at once. “Oh, we’re goin’ there? I’ve handled you fine all this time. You can’t tell me I can’t handle you just ‘cause you look pretty and haven’t learned how to deal with turnin’ people to fuckin’ cinders yet.”

Shin went right back to studying him, but Drifter hadn’t missed the pink gathering at his cheekbones, which meant he’d at least said something right. Annoyed, he turned to stomp out, nearly running face first into Malphur emerging again. For a second, Drifter felt his pulse stutter anxiously as every muscle in his body wound up for something, anything, but Malphur only gave him a _look_ and stepped to the side to let him pass.

Drifter burned the whole way out.

 


	2. Chapter 2

To salvage the rest of whatever pride he had, Drifter stayed on the ground for a while. In the end, it turned out that he really did prefer getting shot at by Vex when the other option was being turned inside-out by Malphur’s eyes.

The Venus night was closing in as he reached the Citadel, his collection full of Spirit Bloom and miscellaneous Vex parts. Here, the dying light had a hard time reaching most of the landscape, the looming rock formations casting deep shadows at nearly every turn. What architecture was thanks to humanity and what was due to Vex influence was easy to tell apart; the Venus cities were the foundation of the Vex’s kingdom.

_Harrowing_. Drifter shivered gleefully at the thought as he picked his way across the rolling field that stretched underneath the wide stone bridge high above him. He reached an overhang, a soft glow pulsing from a tucked-away, dark corner that moss and greenery was trying desperately to reclaim.

“What have we got here?” Drifter murmured, examining the spire. A small one, yeah, but a Vex spire was a Vex spire. He extended a palm for his Ghost to settle on while it started a scan.

Nighttime deepened the longer he sat himself there. His Ghost kept a light trained on the old books Drifter had dug out of the back of his inventory. He was on the fourth, in the third chapter about spires and portals, when he heard the grass nearby shift.

Drifter didn’t move, head down even as his eyes roamed the surroundings. He was mostly hidden, but that never mattered much with the Vex. One, two, he could take. But Vex weren’t usually the lonesome type.

In the dark, all he saw first was a silhouette of a man, which was reason enough to get the hell outta dodge. Then the light from the spire hit his face just right and Drifter recognized Shin walking up the stairs towards him. Some of the tension left his shoulders, but only some. Especially when Shin didn’t say anything and only stood there a few feet away, one hand on his holster instead of his hip.

Wagging fingers at his Ghost to dismiss it, Drifter gave Shin a once-over, frustrated that he’d been tracked down so effortlessly. He kept it out of his expression, refusing to give Shin more ammo against him. “Get tired of yourself finally?”

“When are you gonna quit with that?” Shin said, exasperated.

“When you stop housin’ the you that tried to kill me, easy.”

“...Really.”

Drifter scoffed. “ _Really_.”

Shin rolled his weight from one foot to the other. “‘Cause I thought you two seemed to get along just fine.”

They both stared at each other. Drifter, calculating; Shin, measuring.

Drifter broke the silence first, asking, “He know everything yet?”

“We’ve been talkin’.”

“Didn’t answer my question, pal,” Drifter drawled, pushing himself off the ground. He peered this way and that at the spire, feigning disinterest. “You tell him about the spooky Shadows of Yor?”

When Shin held his tongue for a little too long, Drifter looked over again. The light played off Shin’s features nicely, brightening the deep dark of his irises, sharpening the cut of his jaw.

_Pretty_.

Drifter shook it off, narrowing his eyes. “Well? What’d you do?”

Shin gave a tiny, irritated _mmh_. “I let him know… some things.”

“Enough to fuck with his future,” Drifter guessed.

“Maybe he’ll have a better go of it than I did.”

Drifter laughed, a wicked edge to it. “Here I thought you’d be responsible about fuckin’ with time, but _nope_ , lookie there.” Sighing, he turned back to Shin fully, giving up on his little play at not giving a shit. “Damn. Wonder what the _consequences_ might be.”

Shin walked a little closer, glancing down at the books still scattered over the ground. “His timeline’s already fucked if he’s here with us,” he said by way of explanation. He toed at one of the books and Drifter shooed at him, glaring before transmatting them all off to his vault again.

“Maybe,” Drifter allowed. “You tell him about us?”

“What about us?”

Drifter hissed in a breath, putting his hand over his chest. “ _Ouch_ , that stings. Cruel, ain’tcha. You know what I’m askin’, though, right? Does he know, y’know…” He made a circle with his fingers, then moved his index finger in and out of the circle, never looking away from Shin (who glanced away the instant what Drifter was doing became clear).

“He _did_ ask, as a matter of fact,” Shin muttered, stepping forward to grab Drifter’s wrists so that he’d stop.

Drifter’s brows shot up, and he grinned. “Oh, is it that obvious that I can make you beg for –”

“Where he’s comin’ from,” Shin interrupted quickly, “he doesn’t have anybody. Seein’ me with someone else around…for him, it’s a dead giveaway.”

The mirth died as soon as Shin’s explanation soaked in. It made it sound a lot more like they were romantically partnered up than Drifter felt comfortable with, but instead of forcing the issue, he breathed a pitying little, “ _Awww_ ,” as he pulled his arms free and slid them ‘round Shin’s waist instead.

“You make yourself sound like one sad bastard, y’know that?” Drifter murmured.

Shin paused, the glow from the spire dancing across his face. “If you’re anglin’ for something, this ain’t the way to get it,” he said, voice low.

“Want me to play nice? Say please.”

That seemed to help Shin make his choice; he closed the tiny amount of space remaining between them. Drifter held his breath. He tipped his head into what was almost a kiss, more than welcoming this turn of events, before Shin spoke right against his mouth.

“Fuck you.”

Drifter choked down his surprise and turned it into a laugh, kissing him to get what he wanted. Shin let him, kissed him back with eager, angry lips, but not before biting his lip sharply and getting Drifter to tighten his grip on his hips in return.

Shin was quick to take control, no doubt because of the needling Drifter’d been giving him. Shin pressed him up against the Vex spire, making him gasp as static sang up his spine and the whole of his back felt like it was rubbing up against white noise. Eyes fluttering shut while Shin trailed biting kisses across his neck, Drifter groaned, tugging him closer still.

It was a relief by the time that Shin slipped a leg between his thighs, Drifter thinking _finally, finally, finally,_ as he groped at Shin’s ass to encourage a hasty, rhythmic friction. It was only a hint of the fuck that they could’ve been having, if not for pesky clothes in the way – but it’d been too long, and thanks to all the fuckin’ stress in his head, all the tension in his body, Drifter was too pent up to care.

As Shin’s sharp bites and soft mouth coasted over his throat, Drifter thought of Malphur’s damning twist of lips, the fire in his eyes, the pretty face that’d looked _so good_ , and Drifter slid a little lower against the spire, dug his fingers into Shin a little harder.

There was a quiet, barely-there sound of a footstep against stone, too far away to be either of them. Shin froze, but Drifter was quick to steal the gun – _Trust? Good taste_ – out of Shin’s holster, aiming it towards the source of the noise.

Malphur stood there, a silhouette recognizable only by the shorter cloak he wore, the distinct hand cannon shape resting there on his hip.

Drifter lowered Trust slightly, somehow almost embarrassed – not at being caught in the moment, but being caught in the moment by the face he’d been fantasizing about two seconds ago. His dick was confused. “Fuck, you two really are the same person.”

Shin exhaled against his throat.

Malphur leaned his shoulder into the flat face of the stone next to him. “Didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

Drifter rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, you did.”

He felt Shin lick slowly at his neck, dragging a shiver out of him, and then Shin’s teeth caught skin. Drifter inhaled, warmth pooling in his stomach once more. He grabbed at Shin’s back, breath quickening, and nearly dropped the Trust he was still holding when Shin’s hand, still on his hip, started pulling him into little rolling motions against his thigh again. Somehow, he managed to get the gun back in Shin’s holster, desperately wanting both hands free for this.

With eyes half-lidded, Drifter looked at Malphur. Huskily, he asked, “This what you expected to see when you followed him down here?”

Malphur’s lips twitched. “Not exactly.”

Testing, Drifter slid his hand into Shin’s hair. “You disappointed?”

A little more roughly, Malphur said, “No.”

Thrilled at it, Drifter pulled Shin into a kiss while Malphur waited and watched them, not more than a few feet away. He’d seen _Shin’s_ lips red and kiss-bruised, but would Malphur let him do the same to him? Shin had seemed so sure that Drifter wouldn’t be able to handle him, but Drifter had never turned down an opportunity before. ‘Course he wasn’t going to skip out on it.

Shin was quick enough on the uptake that Drifter didn’t need to coax anything out of him; he licked into Drifter’s mouth and Drifter growled, wondering just how much of a show they could put on for their uncanny third. He shucked Shin’s cloak up so Malphur could see him grope at Shin’s ass, arched his back until Shin huffed for air against his throat with every little unsteady rock of his hips, seeking friction.

When he looked past Shin’s shoulder, Malphur had ventured a bit closer, wearing the same hungry look that Drifter had seen on Shin’s face plenty times before. Drifter moved his hand off of Shin’s ass to beckon to Malphur, his other hand kept tight in Shin’s hair, pulling his head back to keep his throat bared – and so that Shin could see his other self staying well within easy reach.

“C’mon, now,” Drifter crooned at Malphur, then grinned.  

Malphur looked at him intensely enough that Drifter shivered over it. He finally sidled up close enough, slotted himself right up against them both, and Drifter hummed, his grin turning into something more smug. Shin’s eyes tracked each one of Drifter’s movements as he reached up to Malphur’s jaw, almost tender, thumb gliding over the fading mark on his cheekbone.

Drifter guided him in then, his head tilted to get at the right angle for their lips to meet, and maybe he started a little soft about it, a little on the coaxing side – Malphur flipped that idea on its head _fast_ , all teeth and tongue, hard and messy while Drifter’s body worked to catch up with the sudden flame in his gut.

A little distantly, he could hear Shin’s quiet, sharp breaths, but beyond that Drifter was preoccupied with his current handful. Malphur pressed in to help Shin block Drifter into the spire, and if that didn’t just fuckin’ _do it_ for him –

When Drifter broke the kiss to gasp with air-starved lungs, hot all over, he shared a look with Shin. Pupils wide and dark as the night, face flushed like that...maybe Malphur was unraveling the wrong person here.

And then Malphur grabbed his jaw, pulled him back into another, hungrier kiss. That was what he got for playing with fire, he figured. With how intently Malphur beared down on him, Drifter nearly lost his balance, already pushed halfway into open air. Malphur kept him from falling by snatching his robe first, Shin following up with an open palm planted against his chest.

While Malphur sucked Drifter’s lip between his teeth, he heard Shin suggest, “There’s a hundred better places for this than here.”

Instead of doing the logical thing and agreeing, Drifter wrapped his arm around Malphur, grabbed at his cloak to keep steady, and moaned into his mouth.

Only seconds later, Drifter felt Malphur stiffen up and snap his head over towards Shin. Drifter, peeking over, saw Shin’s hand gripping the back of Malphur’s neck like scruffing a dog. Some technique, but Drifter couldn’t argue with results.

“Ship’s waitin’,” Shin said, forced-casual.

The way Malphur stopped goin’ at him, Drifter prepared himself to have to stand on legs that’d melted some time ago. The last thing he expected was Malphur throwing his arm around Shin’s shoulders and dragging him into a thorough kiss. Drifter’s jaw went slack as Shin’s eyes fluttered shut and he gave as good as he got, seeming far more prepared for the heated onslaught than Drifter had been. Both of Shin’s hands came up to keep Malphur steady; Drifter, staring at them, half-hoped that if they fell, they fell into him.

Malphur leaned away slowly, leaving just enough space between their mouths to hint at a challenge. Shin chased his lips, kissed him hard enough that Malphur stumbled back a step, and Drifter caught himself against the spire before they all went tumbling down. Whatever Shin was doing to him did the trick, because Malphur let slip the tiniest noise against his mouth, then shoved him away, gasping.

“Ship,” Malphur said simply, then transmatted away.

Drifter looked at Shin. “So, about bein’ into yourself – I’m stoopin’ real low here, but...I told you so.”

Shin glanced away, but not in time to keep Drifter from spotting the tail end of a smile. “Let’s not keep me waiting.”

Like he _wouldn’t_ throw himself intoShin’s ship after that maddening amount of buildup. Determined not to be the last one there, Drifter transmatted without a reply, quickly walking the short distance to the bedroom, because running would’ve been too transparent.

The door slid open in front of him, Malphur’s cloak catching his eye where it was folded over the nightstand, almost respectfully. Drifter hardly had a chance to take note of it before he was pressed back by Malphur, his shoulders bumping into Shin’s chest, effectively sandwiching him between the terrible two.

Drifter glanced over his shoulder towards Shin. “First,” he said, laying his claim by grabbing onto Malphur’s waist.

Shin huffed, breath washing over the short hair at Drifter’s nape.

“What’s the usual for us?” Malphur asked.

“Loaded question, ain’t it?” Drifter wondered aloud, nosing at his cheek. “Depends on the mood. Sometimes we fight for it.” He tilted his head back slightly, towards the Shin nipping at his neck. “And sometimes he plays around and gives up.”

“There’s the first difference,” Malphur said, then pulled Drifter over to the bed sharply, yanking him right out of Shin’s space. As Drifter was spun around and shoved into a sit on the edge of the bed, Malphur sat on his lap, murmuring at his ear: “I don’t give easy.”  

The kindling in Drifter’s stomach flared up all over again. He leaned back on the mattress and licked his lips as Malphur started tugging open his robes to get at whatever skin he could. It took some hurried, clumsy movements, but Drifter’s shirt finally came off over his head, robes bunched up underneath him; then Shin was there, leaning down with a leg braced against the bed, and Malphur was lifting an arm to reach back, pulling Shin into him for an open-mouthed, full sorta kiss.

Drifter didn’t mind. He’d always liked watching. Seeing Malphur’s pretty flush and wet tongue lave over Shin’s lower lip, Shin melting into it and putting more weight into the bed to brace himself...no, Drifter didn’t mind watching at all.

As the two broke apart, Shin pushed Drifter’s knees further out and Malphur slid to kneel on the floor. With his pants tangled around his ankles, stuck on his boots, Drifter found himself caught by Shin – who at some point had managed to strip the majority of his armor off – who kept Drifter’s legs where they were while Malphur settled between his thighs.

Now, Drifter wasn’t usually impatient, but this wasn’t a ‘usually’ situation. He reached out to move things along, intending on putting his hand on Malphur’s head to give a little motivation. It wasn’t out of the ordinary to do the same with Shin, to get past the banter and tug him over, right? It was practically a daily thing. But Malphur snatched his wrist before he got halfway there. Drifter nearly jumped out of his skin, staring dumbly as Malphur moved his hand instead to Shin’s head.

Shin’s eyes glittered. “Remember what I told you?” he asked Drifter, pointedly.

Drifter stroked fingers through his hair, then tightened his grip. Ignoring the rough tinge to his own voice – and the heavy intensity of Malphur’s attention, waiting to see what he’d do next – he pulled Shin closer, muttered, “Yeah, yeah.”

Shin leaned over Drifter’s leg to tease his warm, soft tongue, against his cock. Drifter shut his eyes a moment and exhaled at the feeling, hot and heavy. Shin moved his lips down, teasing the side of his length and on to the base, Drifter’s needy little trembles continuing all the way up until Malphur leaned in too, and – yes, _yes_ , he swore a storm when Malphur put his mouth over the tip of his cock.

Drifter dropped his hand from Shin’s hair to grab at his bare shoulder instead; Shin lapped at the base of his cock and Drifter dug nails into Shin’s skin in silent, desperate approval. The answering groan from Shin, muffled against the inside of his thighs, made him grin, breathless. Emboldened, Drifter slid his other hand across Malphur’s back, unhooking armor clasps to help him along. Malphur’s gaze flicked up to him as he pursed lips around the side of Drifter’s cock, but he didn’t bite him, which had to mean _something_ good, so Drifter kept at it – at least, as long as he had the coordination.

He wouldn’t last much longer. The heat built higher and higher, skin buzzing with pleasure and the lewd sounds of two mouths sucking and licking at him made it all the worse. Drifter clutched at Shin, at Malphur, panted harshly between his teeth.

“Don’t stop,” he managed, right on the edge as Shin licked all the way up one side, Malphur mirroring him. Their mouths met at the head of his cock, Drifter left in the middle, oversensitized, stunned, and barely able to hiss out a warning –

Malphur, quick, pulled just enough away and gripped Shin’s hair to keep his mouth there on Drifter’s cock as he came. Shin moaned into it, sent Drifter flying over the edge into a shaking, messy orgasm. Shin caught some of it in his mouth; what didn’t make it there ended up on Malphur’s face, a wet, white line streaked over his cheek, dripping down. Malphur wrinkled his nose but didn’t recoil, flicking his tongue out to clean what he could from his lip, and then Shin pulled him over to lick the rest off his face, eyeing Drifter throughout it.

Drifter groaned, his dick from twitching in vain. He fell back against the bed, rubbing his eyes as he caught his breath. He’d had been through some weird, glorious times, but this was easily vaulting into first place for the weirdest _and_ the most glorious of ‘em all.

The bed shook as Shin landed on the bed next to Drifter, flat on his back with Malphur climbing up his body. Drifter raised his eyebrows; Shin caught him looking and gave the most careless shrug in the world while Malphur stripped on top of him.

“Next time I tell you to go fuck yourself,” Drifter said, voice raspy with sedate satisfaction, “I don’t wanna hear it.”

Shin didn’t have to tell Malphur where the lube was, which was a nice plus of knowin’ yourself well, Drifter figured. No matter how fun this was, he still stood by the fact that if it’d been another _him_ that got pissed outta the timestream, he would’ve just shot himself dead. Better off that way, even if they missed out on a little fun. He didn’t trust himself not to stab himself in the back. Couldn’t trust nobody these days, not even yourself.

His blissed-out brain came back online when he heard Shin’s moan catching in his throat. Drifter glanced over the scene in front of him: Malphur, fucking two fingers in and out of Shin while Shin grabbed the sheets so tightly that Drifter was half-thinking he might rip ‘em. Willing enough, Drifter reached out to Malphur, tipping his head at Shin in explanation. After a second of deliberation, Malphur took Drifter’s fingers in his mouth, wetting them thoroughly before spitting into Drifter’s palm.

To his credit, Drifter didn’t lose his mind over getting his fingers sucked by him, but it was a nearer thing than he’d ever admit.

He turned onto his side, and with his slick hand took Shin’s cock in a loose hold, stroking while Malphur stretched him out. The reaction was instant – Shin arched his back, eyes snapping open to look at him with surprise, but certainly no displeasure. Drifter would never get over the way red gathered high on his cheeks, delicate like nothin’ else about him.

(Sometimes, Shin’s gaze would even go soft, if Drifter was fuckin’ him real nice. That was a treat too. Not ‘cause Drifter wanted Shin to be _good_ to him, that wasn’t how they _worked_ , but gettin’ Shin Malphur to melt over a good roll in the sheets was something to be proud of.)

“Look at _you_ ,” Drifter murmured, watching Shin close, how his throat worked to swallow around little gasps. “You’re a fuckin’ mess for this.” He twisted his wrist on the upstroke, savoring Shin’s choked-off sound and the sudden shiver that wracked him.

Turning his attention to Malphur, Drifter was struck all over again by how he was so much of the same but so far from it all at once. Shin now had experience written in every line of his face, on every angle of his body. Malphur almost gave off that fresh meat vibe, looking for all the world like he’d get snatched and chewed up in a heartbeat.

Except for those eyes. Those dark, dark eyes. They weren’t any different than Shin’s, not at all. Those eyes said everything. And right now, Malphur’s eyes were sayin’ somethin’ loud and clear: _Watch me ruin myself._

Drifter liked it.

Shin sat up higher so he could grab hold of Malphur, dragging him down against the bed, against himself. Drifter pulled his hand back just to run an unhurried finger along the slope of Malphur’s spine, admiring while Malphur reached down to slick himself up.

“Oooh,” Drifter cooed at Malphur’s shiver as his touch tripped over what must’ve been a sensitive spot. “Ticklish?”

“No,” Malphur breathed, rough. “Feels good.”

Oh. Well. In that case…

Malphur pressed into Shin – Shin bit his knuckles to stay quiet, but Drifter hoped Malphur made him _sing_ – and Drifter busied himself with digging nails against Malphur’s back, right between his shoulderblades. Malphur bottomed out quick in response, Shin gritting out a, “fuck, yes,” while Malphur braced himself over him. Shin wrapped his legs tight around Malphur’s waist.

Drifter propped an elbow on the mattress to rest his cheek against his hand while the mattress bounced underneath the three of them. He dragged his nails up Malphur’s back to cup the nape of his neck, sweat already gathered there. Malphur looked at him, hair hanging down into his face, his lips parted to keep the air coming, his face flushed in all the right places. On the bed, his hands were fisted tight, like that was all that was keeping him in one piece. Drifter glanced up to meet his eyes again, a slow smile turning the corners of his mouth up while Malphur snapped his hips forward.

“You’re somethin’, you know,” Drifter said, languid about it, Shin’s hitched noises quiet enough that he didn’t have to speak over him. “A tricky one. You woulda killed me.” His hand on the back of Malphur’s neck tightened there. “Aren’t we all lucky you didn’t?”

The same moment Malphur’s rhythm stuttered, Drifter reeled him in for a kiss, biting and eager and _hungry_ , and oh, yeah, he could go again. He felt Shin grab at his arm and brushed it off, heard Shin curse at him and then snap, “ _Touch me_ ,” and Drifter would drink to that.

He licked lazily against Malphur’s teeth, forfeiting his hold on him to grasp Shin’s cock again. It wasn’t the best angle to give the guy a handjob, but hey, he’d make do. Shin’s precome made for a good slide, made it real easy, and only four, five laps of his hand and Shin was choking down his moan and coming all over himself. Malphur _whined_ against Drifter’s lips and followed a few seconds later, shuddering as he stayed unmoving in Shin.

Malphur dropped to his elbows against the bed, panting, while Shin stared wide-eyed at the ceiling. Drifter knew that expression; he’d been there right after getting that once-in-a-lifetime blowjob. He wiped his come-splattered hand off on Shin’s shoulder, getting a halfhearted growl in reply, and then laughed.

“You two fucked-out already? Shame,” Drifter said, smirking, but it faltered when Malphur lifted his head to fix him with a look.

“I never said I was done with you,” Malphur told him, still heaving for air. But he still pulled out and pushed himself away from Shin, wiped his sweat-wet hair off his forehead, and shoved Drifter onto his back.

Shin started to laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess this is three chapters now. BIG big thanks to Agent, my beta, for scouring through this hot mess for meee. <3


	3. Chapter 3

Alright. Maybe Shin was onto somethin’. Maybe Drifter couldn’t handle this spitfire, heedless version of the Shin he’d grown real familiar with. But to be honest, Drifter was pretty sure _nobody_ could handle Shin like this – a tearaway and a tempest, leery of nothin’ except whatever end he himself could bring about. This was Shin untethered to anything and everything, fresh out of grief and into outrage, and he burned _hot_. It was a pretty sight, that was for sure, but a nightmare to keep up with.

The Shin he knew wasn’t in the business of wastin’ time either. If he wanted to get down and dirty, he let it be known with a quickness. Drifter never had to ask for clarification when it came right down to it. Shin made sure he knew, sometimes with words, but more often Drifter’d just get pressed into the nearest surface and find his hands full of the man’s hips, or ass, or –

Malphur bit his throat and Drifter made an embarrassingly high noise, thinking about how well that timing illustrated his fuckin’ point. His fingers flexed uselessly, hands kept at bay by Malphur’s strong grip on both his wrists. Malphur wasn’t interested in being grabbed or touched; he busied himself with doin’ the grabbing and touching, and everything else. Drifter was overwhelmed, overheated, gettin’ outpaced.

‘Course he was enjoying himself, but hell. He couldn’t tell if he was the one gettin’ used or the one doin’ the using.

With the hand not keepin’ Drifter in check, Malphur pushed knuckle-deep in him. Drifter gave a tiny, punched-out exhale in reply, eyes squeezed shut.

“Relax,” Shin said to him, breath stirring over Drifter’s sweat-lined skin.

He felt Shin pluck his headband off. His lungs hitched hard with the next addition – three fingers now. “I’m – relaxed.”

Shin didn’t argue. Drifter almost wished he would; it’d take his mind off of how blissfully _well_ Malphur was working him open. Precise and fast, pushing him right up to the edge with every little twitch of his fingertips. Besides that, there was no way he was goin’ to get fully at ease with two Shin Malphurs in the bed with him. Naked or not, some real specific things made that danger meter tick up and up and up.

Malphur let go of his wrists then, Drifter’s arms falling lax from where they’d been held against the mattress over his head. He swallowed down a gasp when Malphur pulled his fingers away. The heat in his stomach abated enough that he stopped feeling like a breeze would set him off.

“How you want me?” Drifter drawled, playing at being very much in control of the situation and not at all like he was thoroughly wrapped around Malphur’s devilishly clever fingers.

“Can think of a few ways,” Malphur replied, not doing so much as smilin’ about Drifter’s willingness to be moved however he liked.

Malphur’s roaming, hungry eyes studying every line of him made Drifter burn all over again. He shifted nervously, feeling Shin’s shrewd attention on him too, and then he was biting down on his tongue and scooting a little out of the way like it’d save him from the spotlight, desperate to reclaim something that felt a little like security.

He didn’t get far. Malphur caught his arm and next thing, Drifter was flipped flat on his stomach, face in the pillow, heart in his throat. His knees were stuck under him, one arm bent behind his back at the elbow. Turning his cheek, Drifter spied Malphur as the one holding him down, Shin laying on his side next to them but watching appraisingly. Drifter narrowed his eyes at him in particular.

“Gettin’ ideas?” Drifter asked him, agitated. “Don’t.”

Shin hummed, gaze flicking to Malphur. “What if I am?”

“Then you’re gettin’ predict– _ah_.”

Malphur interrupted Drifter by pressing forward, the head of his slicked-up cock pushing into him with a slow ease. Drifter breathed fast against his arm, shuddering only as Malphur bottomed out deep inside of him. Ass flush to his hips, Drifter shifted side to side, barely enough to change the angle, but more than enough to hear Malphur’s tiny, stifled groan. The hand around his wrist, keeping his arm bent behind him, tightened; Malphur’s other hand gripped his waist to keep him still for the moment.

High on his little victory, Drifter grinned, face half-hidden against the bed. “Keepin’ me waiting. _C’mon_.”

It was a vain attempt at leveraging control in his compromising position, especially when all of Malphur’s small motions, rocking back and forth with no real hurry, were turning Drifter to liquid. From the way Shin’s eyes glinted while lookin’ the both of ‘em over, Drifter got the feelin’ that he was takin’ his sweet time on purpose. Drifter’d already been refused his orgasms on Malphur’s fingers. He was oversensitized and ready for it, but no such relief was comin’. Not soon, anyway.

While Drifter’s body strained and pleaded for somethin’ more, his brain ran wild. Even with that satisfying stretch distracting him, he couldn’t forget the hot pressure of that hold on his wrist, keeping him vulnerable. He couldn’t take his mind off of what a fuckin’ chance in a million this was, how easy he’d bowed low to a man that’d tried takin’ him out not more’n a few hours ago. Caution had long been thrown to the wind, but Drifter caught his second thoughts with a vicious grasp, dug his teeth into that fear and let it reign while Malphur fucked him.

Shin caught onto his paranoia first, reaching a hand over Drifter to push sweat from his brow. Malphur only held him down harder. Drifter had no way of knowin’ which reaction fanned the flames worse, but the things he did know were obvious enough: the buzz on his skin felt all the better for it, all his muscles craved any contact, and Malphur was a damn tease. Shin’s hand settled over the nape of his neck, heavy there. Drifter swore into the pillow.

And then Malphur drilled into him with the force he craved so bad, and Drifter coulda bitten his tongue clean off.

“You’re a cruel sonuva-fuckin’-bitch,” he gritted out, flashing a snarl at Shin because he couldn’t turn his head all the way to Malphur.

For the first time, Malphur laughed a little, quick and rough. Drifter stamped down hard on his marvelment at the sound, his back arching while Malphur fucked into him earnestly now. This was what he wanted, this was the trick to getting all that mess out of his head. The fear burned bright in his chest, but the want burned brighter in his stomach. Shin’s touch fell from his neck and Drifter hardly noticed, breaths huffing out of him with every thrust Malphur gave to him.

Wasn’t anywhere near merciful, though – this wasn’t any gift after leavin’ Drifter wantin’ so long, oh no. This was merciless in every way, no matter how fast Drifter got goin’ because of it. It was rough and hard and _angry_ and Drifter liked it that way, wanted Malphur to set himself on fire for it. Drifter was just offering himself up to make the downward spiral a little more fun.

His shoulder strained, twinged against the tight pull Malphur kept on him, but it was all background noise to the smack of skin on skin, the soft string of _ah-ah-ah_ slipping outta him unbidden. Malphur’s pace was getting less and less even; Drifter shoved his free arm down to wrap his hand around his dick and stroke himself fast, swearing under his breath at the burn under his skin.

Movement in his blurry peripheral caught his attention. He was just fast enough to see Shin sitting up, catching Malphur’s hair to reel him in for a greedy kiss. That did it, launched him right across the gap of _good_ to _great_ , and Drifter was coming hard into his hand, into the bed. He choked down his noise with the pillow, growled an extra noise when Malphur pulled out of him, and he felt a wet string of come across the small of his back.

“Fuck,” Drifter managed, voice gone raw. Malphur let go of his arm and Drifter dropped it to the bed, panting, too out of it to do anything but lay there for the moment.

Malphur pushed away from him, sitting back on the bed while he caught his own heavy breaths. Shin was the only one of ‘em with enough mental capacity to get his pants on, disappear, and return with a towel, scrounged up from who knows where. Shin wiped his back down and Drifter tried not to get stuck on what a real kindness it was, considering he was helpless until feeling came back to his legs. He grunted somethin’ close enough to _thanks_ when Shin threw the towel over him for the sake of his decency.

“You like watchin’,” Drifter remarked to Shin, just to break the silence.

Shin looked him over. “Yeah. Guess I do.”

Drifter shoved against the bed to roll himself onto his side. He wiped his still-wet hand on Shin’s bed, towel be damned. “You like what you saw?”

Shin’s lips twitched. “Didn’t mind it none.”

“The hell’s wrong with this picture?” Malphur snapped then. Drifter and Shin both glanced his way, Drifter tense, Shin expectant.

“Hell’s wrong with _you_?” Drifter shot back.

Malphur snorted derisively. “There’s nothin’ good about you.”

“Tell me somethin’ I don’t know,” muttered Drifter. He sat up, rolling his shoulder out.

Next to him, Shin ignored his comment. He jerked his head at Malphur, asked, “What’re you gettin’ at?”

“This ain’t disturbing to you?” Malphur went on, sliding off of the bed to snatch up his underwear, long forgotten ‘til now. “The fact that you’ve been crawlin’ into bed with somebody like _him?_ You know what he’s a part of. The wrongs he embraces.”

He said it with a snarl, a hiss, all while getting his things together. Drifter fought a smile before he didn’t bother anymore and surrendered to it, laughing aloud.

“You can’t handle the idea of me gettin’ under your skin?” Drifter sneered. “Somebody _bad_ like me?” Leaning forward, Drifter lowered his voice, low and spiteful: “Ever wonder maybe you ain’t as good as you think, _hero_? Not so mighty and righteous, way above the rest of us?”

Malphur stalled out where he was angrily jerking his pants up his legs again. Drifter saw the opening, pressed on. “Lemme guess – you haven’t gotten to that part yet.”

Malphur stared at him, dangerously still. Drifter’s venom worked its way through him until the hatred in his eyes had turned blazing. His hand rested on top of his holster he’d gotten ‘round his waist, where the heavy weight of The Last Word waited for its opportunity.

Drifter watched him for any twitch that’d hint at a draw of that Golden Gun. Shin, completely silent and impassive, made no move to calm things down.

The realization hit Drifter like a suckerpunch. Maybe Shin wouldn’t step between them this time. Maybe he’d stepped over a line. Maybe he’d just dug his grave for good.

“You ain’t worth givin’ up anything,” Malphur said, awful quiet. “You ain’t worth a fuckin’ thing. Not any of this, and not my gun.”

Shin did a good job lettin’ all that bounce off of him, except for one, little detail: _not my gun_. Drifter felt Shin flinch. Malphur might’ve been talkin’ to him, but all those words had been for Shin.

“I got here one way,” Malphur said finally, dressed enough now to get his armor on. “Can I go back the same way?”

Drifter’s tongue was caught. Shin answered for him. “I’d imagine so.”

“Good.” Malphur clasped his cloak on either side of his neck. Looked Drifter dead in the eyes. “I’m gonna make sure you ain’t ever a choice for me.”

Malphur disappeared, no doubt headed down to the nearest Vex fluctuation. Drifter worked up the nerve to look at Shin, then wished he hadn’t.

Shin didn’t meet his gaze. Instead, the muscle of his jaw worked, his shoulders kept tight. While Drifter felt absolutely no need to comfort him, he half-wished he could take back the words he’d said, if for nothin’ else but to keep his own heartbeat in check. The threat in Malphur’s words weren’t goin’ to leave his head anytime soon. There’d been intent there, real intent.

Drifter reached over and picked the Gambit coin off of Shin’s nightstand. He flipped it around his fingers, one-two-three-four and back again between his knuckles.

“I think,” Shin said slowly, quietly, “he’s goin’ to kill you.”

“Yeah.” Drifter clutched the coin in his palm then, the edges digging into his skin. Then, mostly to himself, “Should check if there’s any fluctuations he can go through. The sooner the better.”

Shin left him there, toying with the coin. Drifter ran his tongue along his teeth and took a deep, deep breath.

“Every man for himself,” he muttered. “His me’s on his own.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned...


	4. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But wait, there's more!

“How you livin’?”

Malphur expected the question from that raspy, sly voice enough that he didn’t draw his gun in an instant, no matter how much he wanted to. His fingers twitched around his glass of whiskey anyway, ready for somethin’, anything, but he could play that off easier than if he had The Last Word pointed at the guy. Everyone expected a Guardian to be jumpy, always waitin’ for that next skirmish.

He finally glanced up from under his cloak to look at the Drifter, where he was sliding up against Malphur’s side. Drifter lacked a couple of the scars since the last time he’d laid eyes on him, but he’d been older then. Guardians didn’t age, no, but there were some telltale signs, here, there. The scars were just one of ‘em; must’ve been something he’d obtained between times. Shin had mentioned somethin’ about a War, a time without the Traveler’s Light. Maybe he’d gotten his face gashed open during all that.

Not that Malphur really cared about the little things. He’d spent a lot of time thinkin’ over Drifter. He’d devoted a lot of time to hunting him down. Trackin’ his every move. The Shadows were a dangerous bunch. Drifter was the most dangerous one of all, though. He knew that. He’d seen the future.

Drifter was still waiting for him to say something. Malphur thought his options over, couldn’t help but wonder. What would he do if he were the same as the future version of himself? Would he flirt back unprompted, would he have been the one to make a move first? Malphur had hunted Drifter here and then waited for him to take the bait. That’d been _his_ decision. His skin crawled; maybe he’d done the exact same thing the other him would’ve done. He could already be treading that path leadin’ nowhere.

“Livin’ well,” Malphur lied, the wrathful ache in his chest digging deeper the longer he looked at Drifter. The Last Word was still on his hip. It wasn’t going anywhere. He kept that in mind.

“Oh, yeah?” Drifter asked him, the smile on his lips widening like he might eat him. “Bet I can help you live a li’l better. Interested?”

Was this how he’d hooked the other Shin? With a few pretty words, some clever show of desire? Shin’s words scalded him even now, years and years away, that quiet whisper in his ear that’d driven him to tears: _None of that guilt or misery or anger at the world left after you killed Yor, I know. It never left me, neither. Some things you can’t change, not even with a bullet._

He could prove himself wrong. He had to.

Malphur turned in his seat to face Drifter. He was close enough that it was easy to bracket him in on either side with his knees. Here, in this bar, nobody paid the dirty any mind.

‘Specially not the guy who owned the place.

“That an offer?” Malphur replied, smooth as he could.

And damn him, but Drifter’s easy lean onto his elbow, the way he moved in a little nearer to Malphur – it was awful appealing. Malphur’s anger kindled up again when Drifter smiled at him, almost handsome in the attractive danger of it all.

A memory of that brief night spent outside of his own time came back to him – Drifter melting into him, under him, keen on recognizing how much Malphur hated him and everything he’d let himself become by staying at his side –

“Hey, hey, you heard me?” Drifter was asking. Malphur blinked at him, tense now, and Drifter hissed in a breath. “Damn, but you’re somethin’ to look at.”

It shouldn’t get to him that easy. But Malphur flushed at the words, careful not to pull away as Drifter’s hand came up to brush his knuckles across his cheek. All for show, all for show. Malphur doubted Drifter even had the humanity in him to want properly. He knew better.

Drifter’s thumb slid over his bottom lip, gentling out there. _I know better_ , Malphur thought, suddenly a little more desperate.

“Got a place in the back,” Drifter murmured. “If you wanna join me.”

And this was the moment, wasn’t it? This was what he’d been wanting, why he’d come here, to get Drifter to pay him mind and take him somewhere alone, where Malphur could put the barrel of his gun to his head and make quick work of him first and his Ghost second. Make sure he never had the option of givin’ somethin’ up for the man. Not ever.

There was a second choice too, though. Curiosity tugged at him. Drifter cocked a brow, patient with his uncertain prey.

Malphur was sure enough of his resolve to take the chance.

He got up, offering Drifter the rest of his drink. “Let’s go.”

Drifter grinned somethin’ sharp and downed the whiskey before leading him away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. :) 
> 
> Maybe I'll write more for Malphur and Drifter at some point...we'll see.


End file.
